5 Nights @ WL + 4 Night DCL + 3 Nights BLT = As Seen on Youtube - PreTrip Report

[natale1980]

Hi Everyone! I'm going to try something new this time. I'm going to do my Pre Trip Report & Trip Report on YouTube along with what I write on the Dis. My video's will all be between 3-4 minutes (so I won't waste too much of your time).
I've done 2 written TRs before (links below) so I thought I would mix it up a bit. If you like TR with alot of pictures & videos then your in the right place.

Check out my intro - Please subscribe if your interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdY_MoBQvAA

I'll be back later to add some more information about our family.

Thanks!
-nat

 

[natale1980]

First off - I saw that I accidentally posted on the TR section. Hopefully someone will put me over on the PTR since we won't be ready for a TR for several months.

I posted a new youtube video (skylar helped me with this one)- OR - you can read the info here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUZXKhy3whw

We've had our room booked for awhile now - but I just started with all the planning since I just recently finished my last TR.
There is just something about the Dis that makes you want to go to Disney World more!!

Thank goodness for the DVC or this trip wouldn't be as great as it's going to be. My dream of all dreams has always been to stay at the Contemporary resort... GUESS WHAT!!!??? We get to!!!
We are staying 5 nights at the Wilderness Lodge Villas Then 6 nights at Bay Lake Towers!!! I am soooooooo exited. Right now we have a Bay Lake View and are wait listed for a Magic Kingdom view.

We stayed at The Wilderness Lodge last time. Who knew Disney could be like that??? We love the WL and that's why we are splitting the stay (gotta make Shawn happy - it's not always 'all about natale' )

Here's some pictures of the Wilderness Lodge from our last trip:

Some of Walt's personal trains are located in the lobby of the DVC section.

The view from our room.

The only pictures I have of Bay Lake Towers are these two.

It doesn't even open until August 4th!! I'm soooooooo excited!!

Next Up.... Our Disney History.

-nat

 

[annnewjerz]

This is such a good idea and your DD is SO FREAKIN CUTE.

Just watched your first two videos. The rooms at BLT look A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. We're booked at BWV in December, but maybe I can convince DH that next time BLT is the way to go

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip, count me in!

 

[natale1980]

This is such a good idea and your DD is SO FREAKIN CUTE.

Just watched your first two videos. The rooms at BLT look A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. We're booked at BWV in December, but maybe I can convince DH that next time BLT is the way to go

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip, count me in!

Thanks! I wasn't sure if anyone was going to watch them.
I'll be taking ALOT of pictures of BLT - plus one of my friends is staying there for opening day in August!!! So I'll steal a bunch of pics from her.

I'll see if I can get Dexter to help me out with my next video.
Here's a funny one of Dexter that I posted on my last TR. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzdjr9b_01M

-nat

 

[tiggerfan6]

Great Idea!

 

[happiestgrl]

Great idea! I'll be watching. Loved your last TR.

 

[natale1980]

Great Idea!

Thanks for subscribing to my youtube channel!!

Great idea! I'll be watching. Loved your last TR.

Thanks. It's alot of fun to make the TR videos. Takes awhile to edit all of the "ummmmms" and pauses out. But the kids love it! Dexter wanted to watch is sister over and over again.

 

[lazydoxy66]

Very cute idea.

WLV will be wonderful for your family. I hope you get a the view of MK.

 

[natale1980]

Very cute idea.

WLV will be wonderful for your family. I hope you get a the view of MK.

I check my reservation on-line almost everyday (I'm obsessed!) Still no MK view... but we still have some time before our vacation.

 

[natale1980]

We've been so busy! I have either been working or looking for a new job. I must have filled out 25+ applications in the past week. It's getting very old!
The crazy part is that no one seems to be hiring!! And if they are hiring they are getting flooded with resumes.
Oh well... I'm sure something will come up.

ANYWHO - we took the kids to the Botanical Gardens.
It is sooooo beautiful there. I thought I would post some pictures since it reminded me of Disney landscaping.

This is one of your first views once you enter the garden.

Dexter & Skylar enjoying the ride

They have this really big train layout. It's amazing!!

Skylar loves trains (just like her daddy)

Thomas & James...

We couldn't get Skylar to look at the camera because she was too busy finding all the trains.

They have the best exhibits.

Here's another great view from the top of a waterfall.

Time to go home.

It was a perfect day yesterday. If you guys live anywhere near the chicagoland area the Botanical Gardens is a great way to spend a day - or even a few hours.

No real "Disney" update yet. I'm still working on getting our next youtube videos ready.
OH - I guess there is one update. I called one of my best friends from Florida (alicia) and asked if she and her husband would come and visit us in January when we were in Disney. They said they would love to - so - I was able to book them a room at the Wilderness Lodge.
This is another reason why I LOVE the DVC... I would never have been able to 'pay' for a room for them. But I was able to use my points and treat them to a night at a Deluxe resort. How cool is that????

Thanks For Reading!
-nat

 

[brookelizabeth]

I'm in! Such a cute idea with the YouTube videos. I subscribed to your channel, but, I've never subscribed to any before, so I haven't a clue how it works yet!

Your plans look WONDERFUL! We fell in love with the WL too.

 

[A.Mickey]

It was great meeting you today! I am glad you came!!
At the next one hopefully we can chat longer!

 

[natale1980]

I'm in! Such a cute idea with the YouTube videos. I subscribed to your channel, but, I've never subscribed to any before, so I haven't a clue how it works yet!

Your plans look WONDERFUL! We fell in love with the WL too.

Thanks for reading and Subscribing!!!

It was great meeting you today! I am glad you came!!
At the next one hopefully we can chat longer!

Nice to meet you too!!! I will be a new regular at the Chicago Dis meets!!

 

[natale1980]

Natale Update:
I finally got a new job!!! It's a Whole Foods... I should start on Wednesday. It is still pending my background check I'm sure it will be fine since the only time I have never really done anything bad (I'm boring).

So life is about to get even crazier - I'm going to keep my current job plus this new job at Whole foods. Depending on how many hours they give me I may even think about taking a third job during the holiday season.

It's almost been three months since Shawn has worked (thank goodness for unemployment!!!!) But I have already told him that we ARE going to Disney no matter what!!! After working three jobs I'm going to need a vacation!!!

I'm going to keep on posting on youtube when I have time BUT I think I'm going to put my Dis PTR on the back burner until we get closer to our trip. So please subscribe to my youtube account if you like the videos. (I just added a tour of the BLT models at the Doorway to Dreams in Schaumburg, IL)

Thanks for following along... I'll be back to my PTR in a few months.

-nat

UPDATE: The PTR continues....

 

[natale1980]

My job is going well. Working at Whole Foods has been a blast! I'm working in the bakery and part of my job is tasting everything! YUM!! But it doesn't work too well with trying to lose weight.

Trip Update:

1- I signed up for the Family Fun Run 5k! Should be allot of fun, and with all the cake I've been eating I'm going to need to exercise! I don't really have a 'goal' time... I just want to get to the point were I can run the whole time. Very doable I think.

2- The coolest update is that Disney Cruise Line is offering 'Kids Sail Free'!!!! So guess what???? We just added a four night cruise to our trip!!! We didn't add any additional nights to our vacation - it's just taking away some nights at the resorts. I really wanted to spend that long in Disney World - BUT - $947 for a four night cruise for our family was just too good to pass up!!! DCL already has $300 of ours from a old reservation so that brings our balance down to $647.

I guess that completes our update for now! I'm sooooo excited! All I know is that we better make it to Castaway Cay this time. But I know better then to 'expect' that we'll make it there. So we will pack the sand toys again and hope for the best!!

More later -
nat

 

[reyasmommy]

Congratulations on your new job!! I'm glad you like it!

Your DD reminds me a lot of mine. She has the exact same hair color and length... My DD is 3 1/2 though and just started growing her hair about 9 months ago.

Your plans look great, congrats on adding a Disney Cruise, it's going to be SOOO much fun. I really should consider booking one since kids ride free. Just don't think I could convince the husband.

 

[natale1980]

Congratulations on your new job!! I'm glad you like it!

Your DD reminds me a lot of mine. She has the exact same hair color and length... My DD is 3 1/2 though and just started growing her hair about 9 months ago.

Your plans look great, congrats on adding a Disney Cruise, it's going to be SOOO much fun. I really should consider booking one since kids ride free. Just don't think I could convince the husband.

Looks like your going to have a new baby on your next Disney Vacation. I would recommend waiting on the cruise. I think I'm going to have a bunch more fun on our 2010 cruise then the one we just took in January. My DH and Dexter had a blast, but I was too busy working with naps and bed time with Skylar to truly enjoy everything.

Thanks for reading!
-nat

 

[natale1980]

So my family has left me for the day. They are off to Shawn's family reunion. I haven't attended in a few years so I'm not too upset I have to work today - BUT - I'm a bit worried about him traveling 2 hours away with the two little people without me.

Here is a picture from a few minutes ago right before they left.

They are getting so big!!!!

So yesterday I came home to find our cruise propaganda!!! They send it out a few weeks before the final payment is due. It's a 'hey don't forget to pay for your cruise' and 'here's more stuff you can spend money on' brochure. It's fun to look at.

We won't be doing any Disney Shore Excursions, but I am going to try to find out how much money it would be to visit the aquarium at Paradise Island on our own. I think the kids are too young for the water park, but they would enjoy looking at the fish.

I also need to find out if it would be worth it for us to rent a car to drive to the port instead of taking the Disney Bus. I would love to arrive at the port early in the morning so that we get as much Boat time as possible. PLUS - I have read stories about how sometimes there have been security problems in the early afternoon and the people who didn't arrived to the port early have to wait in the parking lot until it is resolved. I'm sure it has only happened a few times, but with our Castaway Cay luck, this seems like something that would happen to us.

So here are our plans so far:

January 6th - Fly to Disney World
Check in at The Wilderness Lodge

January 7th - Fun Day (yet to be planned)

January 8th - Natale Runs The Family 5K at Epcot!!!!

January 9th - Fun Day (yet to be planned)

January 10th - Wake up early and board the Disney Wonder!!!!

January 11th - Nassau, Paradise Island & Buy lots of Rum

January 12th - Day as Sea

January 13th - Castaway Cay (hopefully ) Maybe I'll run the 5K here too!!

January 14th - Off the Boat and Check in at Bay Lake Towers!!!

January 15th - Fun Day (yet to be planned)

January 16th - Fun Day (yet to be planned)

January 17th - Fun Day, until we have to fly home on a very late flight - yet to be purchased.

I'm thinking about extending our trip until the 18th, if we can get and extra day at Bay Lake .

We were originally going to buy the DP, but now I'm not so sure. It seems like the only benefit of the DP is knowing that your food is already paid for. Hummmm.... not sure if that's worth it. Plus it was kinda hard on our last trip to make sure we were at all of our ADRs. The only restaurants I want to make sure we do are- Chef Mickey's, Tepen Edo, and Trails End Buffet. Other then that, I don't really care.

Guess that's it for now, I'm going to try and enjoy these few hours by myself before I have to get ready for work.

-nat

 

[natale1980]

new vlog if anyone is interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhweW4sUpxs.

 

[natale1980]

103 days to go!!!

Since I don't have any real new Disney Plans I thought I would do a little Side Trip Report of our 10 year anniversary day!!!

Since we didn't have the budget to do something amazing like a Disney Cruise - we decided that a day without the kids in Chicago and a Cubs game would be fun! We started the day by taking the kids to my parents house and then quickly going to the train station.

We got there early, but soon enough we were picked up by our train and on our way to the Cubs game.

Shawn LOVES trains!! So he had fun as soon as we got close to the tracks. We went rode in the front car so that Shawn could look out the window... (he's such a little boy!!)

I though it would be funny so go up to the second floor on the train and take a picture

I thought it was funny... until the 'train ticket taker guy' (not sure what they are called... I guess I could get up and ask Shawn... but I think you know who I mean) ANYWHO - he saw me on the way back to my seat and asked if I was taking a 'sexy picture' and I laughed and said... "I don't think I can look sexy." He laughed and walked away. After I looked at the picture I could see why he said that Not that I looked sexy... but it did look like I was trying. ** EPIC FAIL**

Here are some pictures we took as we were getting close to the city.
There was this awesome cloud hovering over the city.

We made it!!